Football Manager

[Irish]

So I bought FM12 when I think it was 6 dollars or something on Amazon awhile back and have been running through an Arsenal save. I had a torrented version of FM11 and did about 4 seasons with Arsenal before I had some major fuck ups with bugs and such. So I decided to continue my game in FM12 with Arsenal because honestly the lower leagues scare me.

But maybe I should change because right now I am running through England with Arsenal.
First Season:

 

Got ousted in the CL semifinal to OM 3-1 aggregate and didn't win either domestic cup, so I had a lot to still get moving forward. Only big signing was Doumbia for 30 mil in the January transfer window. Had to sell Song, Koscielny, and Chamakh to break even on all my transfer updates which was basically to grab youth and Nene.

Second season:

 

Went a lot more smoothly winning the EPL and both domestic cups. But again losing early in the CL to OM, this time earlier in the quarter final on 3-2 agg. No real transfers in besides youth, but a lot of guys went out. Bendtner, Vela, Denilson, Frimbong, and Arshavin all out for around 50 mil total.

Formation:

 

Pretty much stole one from FM-Base for FM11 and continue to use it now. It's pretty dominate honestly, feels really cheap. Especially the strikers.
Doumbia: 46 games played, 53 goals and 15 assists
RVP: 66 games, 64 goals and 29 assists

Team as of start of 3rd season:

 

I am about 2 or 3 games in on my third season with pretty much CL or bust now. Everything else will be a cake walk.

Something I noticed is Man City just spending unreal amounts of money on positions they are already stocked up in. They have effectively ruined Axel Witsel and Christian Erikson's progression because they sit on the bench behind Ganso/Nasri/Silva/Hamsik/Pastore. Not to mention they play Tevez and Aguero every game also. I had to check FM Scout to see how much they have been spending and I think they have close to 15 mil left to spend of 160 mil budgeted.

I am in a really good position depth wise with a player under the age of 18 with at least 170 potential in every position. And some of these regens starting to seriously get playing time. And 120 mil to spend on transfers.

 

I think when I am done with this I will try running Barcelona for a real challenge..

[Lanteri]

Summer window update

SAF retired. Man U offered me the job, I declined. Martin O'Neill quit Sunderland to take over there.

Transfers

In

ST - Anthony Modeste from Bordeaux for £2.3m
LB - Neil Taylor from Swansea for £7m
CB - Dedryck Boyata from Man City for £2.1m
LM - Andros Townsend from Spurs for £1m
CB - Shane Duffy from Everton for £575k
GK - Lee Camp on a free transfer
ST - Nicky Maynard on a free transfer
CM - Paul Pogba on loan from Man U
RB - Carl Jenkinson on loan from Arsenal

Total Spent: £14m

Out

AMC - Tim Cahill to PSV for £1m
AMC - Graham Dorrans to Everton for £3m
LB - Joe Mattock to Wigan for £2m
FB - Billy Jones to Wigan for £1m
Jerome Thomas, Boaz Myhill, James Morrison - free
Hurst, Wood, Nabi, Daniels, all are out on loan

Got a couple other loan targets just for depth purposes.

Starting XI

GK - Begovic
LB - Taylor
CB - Boyata
CB - Ashley Williams
CB - Steven Reid
LM - James McLean
CM - Rhys Williams
CM - Yossuf Mulumbu
RM - Chris Brunt
STL - Simon Cox
STR - Shane Long

Subs: Camp, Modeste, Contento, Maynard, Thorne, Townsend, Duffy
Unused: Pogba and Jenkinson, Jerome Thomas

[Lanteri]

Slight wrench thrown into that starting XI.

Arsenal offered me Aaron Ramsey for £5m. I immediately jumped on that and he has signed. Rhys Williams is going to get a shot at center back. He's fluid in the position, and all 11 of his international caps last season for Australia came at CB. So, at least initially he'll be paired with Williams. Boyata will serve as cover for now. If that doesn't go well, Williams will be my go to sub, as he's versatile enough to play anywhere but striker.

Correspondingly, I'm sending George Thorne off on loan so he doesn't rot away on the bench. Pogba will be there in case of injury.

New XI

GK - Begovic
LB - Taylor
CB - R. Williams
CB - A. Williams
RB - Reid
LM - McLean
CM - Ramsey
CM - Mulumbu
RM - Brunt
STL - Cox
STR - Long

I've become affiliated with Blackburn ever since they've been relegated. I've sent new signing Shane Duffy to them on loan, and trying to get George Thorne to go with him.

[Irish]

What year is this and how much has Ramsey progressed? Why did they offer him?

[Lanteri]

What year is this and how much has Ramsey progressed? Why did they offer him?

2013-2014. He was transfer listed by request after a falling out with Louis Van Gaal.

He hasn't really progressed into too big a star, but he's still young and I have a world class coaching staff and top training facilities, and he'll actually play here as opposed to riding the bench at Arsenal. He only played 20 matches in 2011-2012, and 6 in 2012-2013, and I'm sure his development begun to stall due to lack of playing time.

Screenshot:

[Lanteri]

Europa League Group Draw

Rubin
Hannover
Tromso

Should be fairly routine.

Off to a 4-0 start in the league, with 11 GF and 1 GA. And we beat Molde 8-1 on aggregate to qualify for the group stage. Ho hum.

[Lanteri]

Hmmm. Just got shit on pretty hardcore in our last 3 matches away from home in the Premier league:

3-0 @ Fulham
5-2 @ City
4-2 @ Anfield

Tactic doesn't seem to be taking well to away matches.

Doesn't help that we're fighting through a mountain of injuries in our defense right now as well. Both my starting fullbacks, Taylor and Reid, are out with injury. Reid hasn't played a match all season, and is out for another 7-8 weeks. Taylor tore a hamstring and is out 2-3 months. So my back line is now Contento-Williams-Williams-Jenkinson, with only Boyata for cover. I doubt it's going to get any prettier for us anytime soon away from the Hawthorns. Chris Brunt is out for 3-4 weeks as well, Mulumbu has missed 2 weeks, and is out for another 10 days, Shane Long has missed a match, and is out for another 2 weeks. It's one big pile-up at this point.

[Lanteri]

I've reached the 10 match run-in of the 2013-2014 season.

Our league form has slipped a bit from the past two years, mainly due to the excessive amount of injuries to key players we've had to endure this time around.

We're currently 7th in the able with 13 wins, 4 draws, and 11 losses. We've scored 48 and conceded 35. Our 43 points puts us 1 behind Chelsea who are on 44, and 5 behind Wolves who are on 48. League leaders Man City are on 66.

In European competition, we qualified for the knockout round with 2 games in hand. We then went on to defeat AS Saint-Etienne in the first knockout round 4-3 on aggregate (drew 2-2 @ their place, won 2-1 at ours). We're about to play Karpaty in the 2nd knockout round.

Domestically, we've got a fair schedule to conclude the season:

@ Reading
vs. Blackpool
@ Swanea
vs. Sunderland
@ Wigan
vs. QPR
@ Wolves
vs. Man U
@ Arsenal
vs. Everton

Away at Arsenal and Wolves are the toughest, as well as home against Man U.

Player-wise, Simon Cox is my highest rated player, despite having not scored in over 800 minutes now in all competitions, with a 7.22 in league play, with 10 goals and 8 assists in 24 appearances. James McLean is behind with 7.13, 4 goals and 6 assists in 25 league apps. Shane Long brings up the rear of the Irish contingent, with 10 goals and 2 assists in 18 league appearances. He just now returned after missing 10 matches. Ramsey and Taylor are the other two players above 7 at 7.05 each.

[Lanteri]

Smacked around Karpaty to the tune of 6-1 on aggregate.

Drew Dynamo Kyiv in the quarter finals. Winner of that gets the winner of Athletic/CSKA Moscow in the semis.

edit: Through to the semis after a 5-3 aggregate defeat of Kyiv behind a Shane Long hat trick in a 3-1 victory at home after drawing 2-2 away. Long now has 12 goals in the Europa League, 2nd behind Cavani and Ajax's Sigorsson at 13 each. We're on to play Athletic in the semis. Winner gets the winner of Dortmund-Ajax in the final.

[Lanteri]

Europa League run came to an end in the semis against Athletic. We won the home leg 2-1, but went into the away leg with Neil Taylor and James McLean suspended for 1 match for reaching the yellow card limit, and Ashley Williams out with an injury. Lost 3-1 to fall 4-3 on aggregate. Contento turned in a 5.8 performance was sent off in the 90th minute. Townsend a 6.7, and Boyata a 6.1. *sigh*

However, even with all that, it turned out to be Shane Long's missed penalty that would give us the loss.

Focus now has to switch back to the league, as we are in danger of not qualifying for Europe at all next season with 3 matches to go. We're currently in a 3 way tie for 5th place on 58 points with Chelsea and Wolves.

[Lanteri]

Unexpectedly strong finish in the final 3 matches of the league, combined with a collapse by Spurs, has vaulted us from being a question mark for qualifying for Europe to the 4th Champions League spot. We defeated Man U 2-1 at the Hawthorns, went to the Emirates and upset Arsenal 3-1, and closed out the season with a 4-2 win over Everton.

Heading into the summer, I'll be looking for a few upgrades. Specifically at right back. Reid missed a total of 201 days this season due to injury (55% of the year), and only appeared in a total of 8 league matches, and 1 European match. Carl Jenkinson got 30 league starts, turning in a 7.04 rating, and a 6.98 in 12 European matches. He was decent, but not my ideal long term solution.

I'll be looking to spend a majority of whatever transfer budget I get on a world class center back. Rhys Williams was useful, but not anywhere near the level of defender I want back there. And obviously, depth will be the rest of my signings, as I'm fairly solid at most positions. Brunt and McLean are unlikely to be displaced off the wingers, and Mulumbu and Ramsey in midfield don't need upgrading either. So, it's basically just defense at this point.

Squad Stats - Premier League

 

Squad Stats - Europe

 

League Table

 

[Lanteri]

Fuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkk.

Liverpool activated a release clause in Shane Long's contract, for £14.25m. I tried to offer him a new contract, but he snubbed it and signed with Liverpool.

Now I need a striker too.

So far this window I've signed Davide Santon for £9m and CB - Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik for £8.25m. Sold Boyata for £5m (transfer by request since I refused to offer him a new contract), and Contento for £4m since he fuckin' sucked.

[BigHouseUSA]

I've been using the sortitoutsi mega facepack and still can only get about 10% of the faces showing. Anyone have this problem, no of a better cutout facepack?

[Lanteri]

Summer Transfers:



Starting XI:

GK: Asmir Begovic
LB: Neil Taylor
CB: Kana-Biyik
CB: Ashley Williams
RB: Davide Santon
LM: James McLean
CM: Aaron Ramsey
CM: Yossuf Mulumbu
RM: Chris Brunt
STL: Simon Cox *may start Defoe, not sure
STR: Kolbeinn Sigursson

Subs: Jakupovic, Defoe, Townsend, Thorne, R. Williams, Hurst, Giaccherini
Unused: Bartley, Modeste, Reid

[Lanteri]

2nd attempt at making the CL Group Stages fell short again. Lost 1-0 @ Koln. Drew 0-0 at home.

On to the Europa League we go. Bremen, H. Tel-Aviv, and Bolonga the group draw.